Carthage College is a private college in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1847, it is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Carthage awards bachelor's degrees with majors in more than 75 subject areas and master's degrees in four divisions. Carthage has 150 faculty and enrolls approximately 3,000 students. It is the lead institution for the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium.
History Carthage College was founded in Hillsboro, Illinois, by Lutheran pioneers in education, and chartered by the Illinois General Assembly on January 22, 1847. Originally known as The Literary and Theological Institute of the Lutheran Church in the Far West, its name was soon shortened to Lutheran College and known locally as Hillsboro College. With a two-person faculty and 79 students, Hillsboro promised "a course of study designed to be thorough and practical, and to embrace all the branches of learning, usually pursued in the best academies and colleges".
In 1852, the college moved to Springfield, Illinois, and was renamed Illinois State University, not to be confused with the institution in Normal, Illinois, under the same name. During this period Abraham Lincoln served briefly on the board of trustees from 1860 to 1861, while his son Robert Todd Lincoln was a student in Illinois State University's preparatory academy from 1853 to 1859. Illinois State University's enrollment dwindled during the Civil War and closed in 1868. In 1870, several faculty reestablished the college in the rural west-central city of Carthage, Illinois, where the college acquired its current name, Carthage College.
The Great Depression and World War II lowered enrollment to 131 students in 1943, but enrollment increased again after the war as a result of the G.I. Bill.
After years of financial challenges, shifts in Lutheran synodical support, and searches for a suitable location, Carthage's board of trustees voted unanimously in 1957 to open a campus in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The lakeshore campus was dedicated on October 14, 1962.
By 1962, the college launched an era of growth. The next decade brought a period of continuous expansion. Enrollment increased fivefold, endowment tripled, and physical assets increased 600 percent. In fall 2025, Carthage enrolled 3,036 students, setting a new record. Since 2001, the college has invested more than $130 million in new construction, major renovations, and technological acquisition.
Expansion In 2001, the Hedberg Library opened its doors, adjoining the H. F. Johnson Center for the Fine Arts. The library won Wisconsin Library of the Year in 2004. The library also won the Highsmith Award in 2007 for Family Fun Night, a program for community members that encourages learning for children from 2 to 13. The former Ruthrauff Library was renovated into the A. W. Clausen Center for World Business, opening in 2004.
The Tarble Athletic and Recreation Center opened in 2001, and the former Physical Education Center was rebuilt and renamed the Tarble Arena, opening in 2009.
In fall 2011, a new student union opened on the site of the former W. F. Seidemann Natatorium. It houses a new press box, new bleachers, a new and larger bookstore, new dining options, a campus "living room", a new dining room, a 200-seat theatre, an art gallery, and a gaming area. In April 2012 the student center was formally dedicated and named the Campbell Student Union in honor of retiring President F. Gregory Campbell and his wife, Barbara, for their 25 years of service to Carthage. President Campbell retired in August 2012.
The Oaks, a new student residence village overlooking Lake Michigan, opened in 2012, containing six villas with semi-private suites and a media lounge.
In fall 2015, a new science center opened in the newly renovated David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Natural and Social Sciences. Originally built in 1962, the former Science Hall was renovated and renamed in honor of David A. Straz, Jr., in 1995. The latest $45 million expansion added a new planetarium, twelve new science labs, new classrooms, faculty offices, and student gathering and exhibition spaces.
In fall 2018, the newest residence hall, The Tower, was opened. The Tower provides students with apartment-style suites with personal bathrooms, as well as media lounges on each floor and communal kitchens on every other floor. The building also presented students with the Terrace, a studying space with televisions, laptop bars, and a functioning fireplace.
Presidents Carthage has had 23 presidents since its founding:
Francis Springer — 1847–1855 Simeon W. Harkey — 1855–1857 (1) William M. Reynolds — 1858–1862 Simeon W. Harkey — 1862–1866 (2) David Loy Tressler — 1873–1880 J. A. Kunkelman — 1881–1883 J. S. Detweiler — 1883–1884 E.F. Bartholomew — 1884–1888 Holmes Dysinger — 1888–1895 John M. Ruthrauff — 1895–1900 Frederick L. Sigmund — 1900–1909 Harvey D. Hoover — 1909–1926 N. J. Gould Wickey — 1926–1929 Jacob Diehl — 1929–1933 Rudolph G. Schulz — 1935–1943 Erland Nelson — 1943–1949 Morris Wee — 1950–1951 Ruth Wick — 1951–1952 Harold H. Lentz — 1952–1976 Erno J. Dahl — 1977–1986 Alan R. Anderson — 1986–1987 F. Gregory Campbell — 1987–2012 Gregory S. Woodward — 2012–2017 John R. Swallow — 2017–present
Academics
Carthage offers a Bachelor of Arts in more than 40 areas of study and the Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Carthage also partners with master's level institutions to offer dual-degree programs in engineering, occupational therapy, chiropractic, and pharmacy. Its most popular undergraduate majors, by number out of 585 graduates in 2022, were: Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse (59) Marketing/Marketing Management (51) Business Administration and Management (49) Psychology (40) Exercise Science and Kinesiology (34) Biology/Biological Sciences (31) Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration (29)
The college has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1916. Carthage also offers three master's degree programs in education, business design and innovation, and music theatre vocal pedagogy.
The academic calendar spans two 14-week semesters, separated by a month-long January term. During January Term, known on campus as "J-Term", participating students select one class and attend it daily. In addition to on-campus courses, many students travel with faculty on study tours in either January or the summer months. Destinations in 2016 included Cuba, Nicaragua, and World War II battle sites in Europe. All students must complete two J-Term courses, including one during their freshman year.
All students must complete a senior thesis. This capstone project can take the form of a research project, music recital, art exhibit, or some other original demonstration of scholarship or creativity. All Carthage students were required to take Western Heritage, a year-long course sequence in which they read, discussed, and wrote about major Western texts. The reading list included works by Plato, Homer, Shakespeare, Thomas Jefferson, and W. E. B. DuBois, in addition to the Bible. In the 2020–2021 school year, this was replaced with Intellectual Foundations, which has the same purpose but includes more texts written by non-white authors.
Admissions In fall 2025, Carthage had enrollment of 2,818 undergraduate students and 163 graduate students. The student body is 55 percent female and 45 percent male. 70% of applicants are accepted for admission.
Faculty The college has a student-to-faculty ratio of 13 to 1. In fall 2025, the college employed 141 full-time professors and 194 part-time faculty members. In the summer of 2020, the college announced a plan to reduce "total full-time faculty by 10 to 20 percent. That reduction would include a mix of tenured and contract faculty." It is to be effected via a "reorganization" affecting ten departments, including Biology, Classics, English, Modern Languages, Music, Philosophy and Great Ideas, Physics and Astronomy, Political Science, Religion, and Sociology and Criminal Justice. In fall 2021, the college employed 142 full-time professors and 145 part-time faculty members.
Tuition Undergraduate tuition for the 2019–2020 academic year was $45,100 (excluding books, personal expenditures, and health insurance). On September 17, 2019, the college announced that it was resetting the sticker price of tuition for the 2020–21 academic year by 30% to $31,500. The college made this decision in an effort to make its pricing more transparent and to attract students that may have been deterred by the high listed tuition.
Rankings Carthage College was tied for 37th among Regional Universities Midwest in the 2025 U.S. News & World Report rankings of Best Colleges. The Institute for International Education placed Carthage 4th among baccalaureate institutions for student participation in short-term study abroad in 2013–2014. In The Princeton Review'''s 2016 rankings, Carthage was among 159 schools listed as a Best Midwestern College.
From 2008 through 2025, 38 students from the college won Fulbright fellowships. In 2016, the college was named a top Fulbright producer.
Traditions
The Old Main Bell For decades, the Old Main Bell sat in the tower at the top of Old Main, the first building on the campus in Carthage, Illinois. After athletic victories, students would race down Evergreen Walk to ring the bell. When Carthage moved from Illinois to Wisconsin in the 1960s, the Tau Sigma Chi fraternity helped move the victory bell to Kenosha. In 2004, the victory bell found a new home in the scoreboard on Art Keller Field."Bart Starr Kicks off Keller Field Campaign". The Carthaginian. Autumn 2005, 7.
Kissing Rock Kissing Rock has been a part of Carthage since 1913. Dennis Swaney and other members of the Class of 1913 found the 2 ½-ton chunk of granite in a farmer's field and moved the stone to the campus.Swaney, Dennis. Diary. 1913. Kissing Rock Collection. Staubitz Archives, Carthage College. Stationed prominently at the entrance to Evergreen Walk, the rock quickly became part of Carthage life. One tradition recounts that any woman sitting on the rock was obligated to kiss the man who found her there and countless marriage proposals have been made and accepted near it. Members of the Beta Phi Epsilon fraternity moved Kissing Rock to the Kenosha campus in the mid-1960s. It now sits facing Lake Michigan between Lentz and Tarble Halls.
Today, Kissing Rock is a multifaceted symbol of the Carthage spirit. Students paint the Rock to promote their organizations and causes, publicize upcoming events, and celebrate. Kissing Rock has served as a memorial to former students, an expression of protest against injustice, a tribute after 9/11, and more.
Christmas Festival The Christmas Festival has been a part of Carthage's holiday season since 1974. Every year at the start of December, Carthage hosts a musical celebration of the birth of Christ for the community. The event highlights student vocal and instrumental ensembles, as well as performances by students in Carthage's Theatre Department.
Athletics
Men's sports Women's sports Baseball Basketball Basketball Bowling Cross Country Cross country Football Golf Golf Lacrosse Lacrosse Soccer Soccer Softball Swimming and Diving Swimming and diving Tennis Tennis Track and field Track and field Volleyball Volleyball Wrestling Water polo Wrestling
Carthage athletic teams are the Firebirds. The college is a member of the Division III level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) since the 1961–62 academic year; which they were a member on a previous stint from 1946–47 to 1951–52. The Firebirds previously competed in the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from 1912–13 to 1940–41.